Keeping the virtuous cycle of good governance and stability going is crucial for the continued progress of Singapore. In order to do so, the People's Action Party (PAP) leadership has made clear that the party must be responsive to popular sentiments that desire greater diversity of political views and alternative policies. These need to be articulated cogently and debated thoroughly in Parliament. Clearly, the choice is not between stability and democracy. It rests on an evolving vision of politics in which the recognition and incorporation of diversity underpin strong and effective governance. The stakes are national and not partisan because once the cycle is broken, it would be difficult to restore it. The PAP conference on Sunday provided a bracing reminder of the need to preserve continuity by being prepared for change.

Continuity takes the form of Singapore eschewing the kind of adversarial political contestation evident elsewhere, in which rulers cling to power in the short term and challengers seek to replace them by tempting the populace with equally short-term policies and programmes without due care to the attendant costs, which become apparent only when the challengers come to power. Then, a vicious circle begins as contending political elites compete for votes by reaching out to the lowest common denominator of the population.